The troubled clothing retailer, who recently fired its outspoken founder, is under fire again for posting a photo of the explosion of the space shuttle Challenger to its Tumblr blog.

The stylized photo, which was tagged Smoke and Clouds, went viral on Twitter Thursday and the company took it down 45 minutes later, after complaints from readers.

“This is the iconic image of the Challenger space shuttle exploding, not just some cool smoke and clouds,” wrote one commentator.

The company said on Twitter that the photo had been re-blogged by an international social media employee who was born after the 1986 disaster that killed all seven crew members, including schoolteacher Christa McAuliffe. The employee, who was not aware of the disaster, thought it was an image of fireworks, the Los Angeles Times reported.

American Apparel is engaged in a very public battle with its founder Dov Charney after voting to remove him as CEO “for cause.” The Canadian-born founder has been dogged by lawsuits and allegations of misconduct for years.

Nor is this the first time American Apparel’s online campaigns have run into trouble. In 2012 as Hurricane Sandy ravaged the U.S. east coast the retailer reaped a backlash on Twitter when it sent emails announcing a “SANDYSALE.” The 20% discount only applied to people in states affected by the hurricane, but residents were not amused.